Patient Safety Authority

How can brushing your teeth keep you from catching pneumonia? When a patient experiences dry mouth as a side effect of medication, it becomes more difficult for them to swallow, which heightens the risk of aspiration pneumonia. Research shows that oral care, among other quality improvement efforts, significantly decreases the incidence of non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Better yet, oral care is a simple solution that often can be performed by the patient on their own, which engages them in their own care and prepares them to continue good oral hygiene once they are sent home. Read more: https://patientsafetyj.com//artic/view/oral-care-pneumonia

As our nation moves forward, how do we continue to advance patient safety? This week on her blog, Regina Hoffman charts a course for the future of healthcare: She says that if we are to pick up the pace of improvement, we must coordinate our efforts, refocus, and reprioritizewith a national approach to patient safety. Read more: http://patientsafety.pa.gov/blog/

Did you know? You should still get vaccinated for COVID-19 even if you have been sick with it before. Reinfection with the virus is possible, and you could get ...severely ill from COVID-19. Experts aren’t sure how long someone is protected from getting sick again after recovering. Both natural immunity and immunity from a vaccine are important aspects of COVID-19 that experts are trying to learn more about. CDC will keep you informed as new evidence becomes available. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3g5amLz.

Radon, which can be undetected in homes and buildings at dangerous levels, is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America. During National Radon Action Month, learn about this harmful gas you can’t see, smell, or taste: https://www.epa.gov/radon.

Have you been suffering #alarmfatigue? Clinicians rely on #TelemetryMonitoring every day to care for patients, but it can be a double-edged sword: With more ways to track every aspect of patients’ health, come more alertsand the risk of becoming desensitized to them. We interviewed national experts and hospital staff about how they overcame patient safety challenges related to #telemetry. Our four-part video series, Telemetry Monitoring in Pennsylvania, highlights the need to review and improve processes, and presents best practices and lessons learned, which may help guide you in your own work. For more information and resources, visit http://patientsafety.pa.gov/pst/Pages/Telemetry/hm.aspx#

Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, consider making an appointment NOW for the Montgomery County Office of Public Health drive-thru flu clinic at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks this Friday and Saturday, 10/30 & 10/31. The flu shots are offered at NO COST to individuals age 6 months and older who live, work, or go to school in Montgomery County. You need to make an appointment NOW, registration ends at 5 PM today (10/27). To make an appointment, visit montcopa.org/flu or call 610-278-5145.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of lung diseases that block airflow and make it difficult to breath. 16 million Americans have COPD. During Respiratory Care Week, learn the causes and treatments for COPD at https://www.cdc.gov/copd/basics-about.html. #patientsafety #COPD #respiratorycareweek

Have you gotten your flu shot yet? Karen Rogers of 6abc Action News and people from all over the Commonwealth are doing their part to stay healthy and prevent the spread of #influenzawhich is even more important this season when the healthcare system is already managing #COVID19. Visit your doctor or a flu clinic right now and join us in knocking out the #flu. When you get your shot, post a selfie and tag it with #KnockOutTheFluPA!

Our own JoAnn Adkins, BSN, RN, was one of five infection preventionists (IPs) that APIC - Infection Prevention and You interviewed for an article in the Fall 2020 issue of their journal, PREVENTION STRATEGIST. In These Are Extreme Times, they shared their experiences with COVID-19 in diverse care settings in the United States. About the early days of the pandemic and the vital role IPs have been playing during it, JoAnn said, Infection preventionists are a very creative group. Prior to guidance being issued, many IPs came up with unique ideas to prevent transmission and spread. We are very proud of JoAnn’s contribution to this article and her work with long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania! Read the article at https://www.preventionstrategist-digital.com//MobilePagedA. #InternationalInfectionPreventionWeek

It may sound cheesy, but we all have a stake in knocking out the flu! Listen to Geno's Steaks’ mascot Whizzy and get your flu shot! No matter whether you like y...ours "Whiz wit or ‘witout," everyone agrees that no one wants #influenza. When you visit a doctor, clinic, or pharmacy for #vaccination, take a selfie and post it with #KnockOutTheFluPA! See more

Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD). Stuttering is a speech disorder involving frequent and significant problems with normal fluency and flow of speech. Learn more here https://www.mayoclinic.org//s/symptoms-causes/syc-20353572.

If you're in Chester County, PA, stop by one of these flu clinics this month for a free flu shot! #knockouttheflupa

COVID-19 is on everyone’s mind, but as we move into flu season, we also need to consider influenza and pneumonia. Researchers looked at how failures in processes to diagnose and treat respiratory infections can increase risk of spreading them among staff and patients, by analyzing 338 events related to viruses and bacteria spread through respiratory droplets reported by Pennsylvania hospitals in 2019. They discovered that more than half of these events (54.9%) were associated with processes for testing and handling lab specimens, while the remainder involved isolation procedures (29.7%) and treatment (15.4%). Read more at https://patientsafetyj.com///article/view/process-failures #infectionpreventionmonth

Nominate a patient safety hero today at http://patientsafety.pa.gov//Brochures/Pages/IAPS_home.aspx! Submissions are open until Nov. 30 for the 8th Annual I AM Patient Safety Achievement Awards. We invite medical professionals in Pennsylvania to nominate individuals or teams who have made a difference in patient safety in one of 10 categories, including new categories this year: Conquering COVID-19, Physician Offices, and Nationwide Warriorswhich is also open to nominations from outside the state.

This #InternationalInfectionPreventionWeek, we recognize and thank our dedicated IP staff: senior infection preventionists JoAnn Adkins, BSN, RN, and Terri Lee Roberts, BSN, RN, and infection prevention analyst Amy Harper, PhD, RN. They have been working harder than ever during the pandemic to help Pennsylvania hospitals and long-term care facilities keep their patients and staff safe, and slow the spread of COVID-19 in communities. You see them on your local news station and... online sharing the importance of handwashing and getting your flu shot, and you read their important research and data analyses in the pages of our journal, PATIENT SAFETY. Their tireless efforts improve patient safety in countless ways throughout the Commonwealth and guide the PSA’s work every day. Thank you, JoAnn, Terri Lee, and Amyand IPs everywherefor everything you do to help patients and families! See more

WellSpan Health is offering flu shots at their primary care and urgent care locations. Visit https://www.wellspan.org/make-an-appointment/flu/ for a location nearest you and to reserve your spot online. Let’s #KnockOutTheFluPA!

International Infection Prevention Week (#IIPW), celebrates the importance of infection prevention and the role of infection preventionists in protecting public health. Thank you to IPs for battling the global pandemic and keeping the world safer. Learn more https://www.who.int/gpsc/highlights/infection_prevention/en/.